Her turn now. If I live long enough, I'm going to be damn interested to see exactly what history begins to do with a lot of the music that we cover. I'm curious to see if the stars from our current era become supremely revered in a similar way to those of older eras and I'm just as curious (maybe even more so) to see what I'm listening to these days which will some day grow into becoming that kind of a hidden/forgotten classic that we see so respected these days. When it comes to Reggae, perhaps slightly, the pattern may've already been set. Maybe if only for the fact that I pay so much attention to it, we've already seen an entire line of superstars enter a state of 'elder-ship', especially in the Dancehall arena, and we are already in the process of seeing it happening again. Previously, we had rulers such as Shabba Ranks, King Yellowman (who, I believe, is on tour as of the time of me writing this) and Super Cat who were names who not only found more terrestrial success in the Dancehall, but would go on to find an unprecedented level of global attraction as well which was previously unattained by the genre. Similarly (not really though, nothing is similar to this case), of course, there's the kind of mountain-figure in Roots Reggae that exists somewhere wayyyyyyyyyy out there whom we will refer to today as 'MARLEY'. Marley's particular case is extremely fascinating because we're also now beginning to see his direct offspring begin to age and on the way up is yet another generation of the first family of Reggae music. Back to the Dancehall, the next line of names which would follow Shabba and co., namely the 'three B's', Buju, Beenie and Bounty, have already entered into stages where we are beginning to look at what they have accomplished in terms of their legacy and not just their active careers. Of them, Bounty Killer is probably most interesting as he has inspired a line of up and comers, some of whom (like Vybz Kartel), themselves, have gone onto inspire and revolutionize as well. That will definitely be as big of a part of how history remembers him as any tune he has done. On the Roots end, in terms of the modern era, perhaps we also have slight indications how the likes of Capleton (especially Capleton), Sizzla, Luciano and Anthony will be looked upon by fans decades from now (twenty-five years isn't a terribly long time in actual time, but it is long enough to take a young lyrical genius from out of August Town and turn him into, arguably, one of the most influential artists the genre has ever seen). But history is like all time (future, present and even the past if you're willing to dig deep enough): It is unpredictable, ultimately.
So, I have to admit that my curiosity is piqued when you combine something as erratic as time with something which virtually prides itself on its wonderful instability. When history links with Soca, what will happen? The artform, Dancehall's attention demanding (she doesn't really care if you pay her any mind at all... because she knows you will), amazing [slightly] younger sister, does not have the roots as its older sibling in terms of being at the highest level. You will surely find names who helped established the genre for what it is today, but if you know who people such as Lord Shorty, a Roy Cape and maybe even Superblue to some extent, you know them in a far more regional capacity than someone like Shabba Ranks. Instead, I think looking at Soca within the context of a historical point of view is MOST interesting when you consider it an ACTIVE process. If you are a fan right now, there's a chance you may've come up listening to Machel Montano and Alison Hinds and others (might throw Rupee in that group as well) and we are currently building a historical perspective in their cases, especially Montano's who we've 'known' from childhood, but it's difficult to say where it eventually goes as he's made his life's work something which, as far as itself, we do not know how history will look back on (and can you even begin to imagine what something like technology will do to Soca?!). And I look at and wonder about some of my personal favourites. If someday the genre becomes this highly lyrical art, Bunji Garlin definitely becomes something of a pioneer. If we begin to get an influx of these big, Gospel-like voices, we look at a Claudette Peters and say she was one of the first. I wonder what we'll think of Destra, Patrice Roberts, Skinny Fabulous, Problem Child, Mr. Killa, Tallpree. Are they genuine Soca legends thirty-something years from now?? And that's just them. I'm also wondering mightily how we'll look back on and attempt to qualify who and exactly what the hell the incomparable Fay-Ann Lyons was.
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| 2014 |
Maybe people in the future won't have any idea either. In a genre which tends to offer some of the most spectacular moments that anyone has ever seen, there is definitely something to said for the select few who can manage to maintain some level of consistency. The argument could very well be made that, at its absolute highest level, Soca music has rarely seen anyone as dependable as Lyons. Previously, I would have said that the Trinidad native may've gone overlooked to some degree, especially earlier in her career, after she'd already demonstrated herself to be supremely gifted (she's forty now, she won Road March way back in 2003, when she would have been only 22) [DUH!], but these days she carries as heavy a hammer as virtually anyone in the genre. And, on top of that, while there do exist one or two bigger names, the fact that she has spent the last decade and a half or so making as strong of Soca music as anyone cannot be denied. Daughter of the aforementioned mighty Superblue and Lady Gypsy (another esteemed Calypsonian/Soca artist), niece of Calypso, Gypsy, sister of Terri Lyons (very underrated Soca artist) and wife of the aforementioned Bunji Garlin, a very large portion of Fay-Ann's life has seemingly occurred around the music (it's the family business) and it is my opinion, that when all is said and done, we'll look back on her as being the greatest of her clan ["Tell them I am not my father. I'm bad like him, but the truth be told - LIKE ME, THERE WILL BE NO OTHER!"]. She has made some of the greatest songs the genre has ever seen and also put on some of its greatest displays as well - with my personal favourite being 'Get On', which should have taken the crown at Soca Monarch 2009 (actually robbed by her husband) (THANKS!) (well, technically the judges robber her) and year-in and year-out is amongst the largest of attractions in Soca music, ANYWHERE. Still, after that lineage and that career -- which would go on to net three Road March titles and a double Soca Monarch crown in 2009 (whilst very pregnant) -- maybe there was something missing from Fay-Ann's catalogue. If there was, back in 2014, she and VP Records attempted to do something about it, when they entered into an agreement to produce what would eventually be the very first album on an amazing resume (Lyons may have actually had an album before it, if I recall correctly, but good luck finding it). For the most part, even less so than Dancehall actually (which is amazing), historically speaking, Soca isn't a genre which has produced a great deal of studio albums from even many of its biggest names. Off the top of my head, despite making music for well over thirty years, Alison Hinds only has two to her credit. And you will see others such... well damn near everyone who either have NEVER had an album (like Skinny Fabulous, which is fucked up) or may have had one or two throughout the years which may be virtually impossible to find (like Denise Belfon (I THINK), Patrice Roberts and Mr. Killa) and have never reached the digital side (Roberts' first album, "Blossoming", did. However, that second one, "Looking Hot", is long gone) (which is too bad because it was fantastic). Of course, on the opposite end of that would be Montano who, nearing fifty years old now, has released an album virtually every year since he was a child. Looking at Garlin is also very interesting as his case may have led us to what would subsequently become "Break The World".
Like Destra (still my absolute favourite), Nadia Batson recently and maybe one or two of their peers (or, then again, maybe not) (although the digital avenue has changed things just a bit, as it has for everyone) Garlin has had a few albums in his career. He doesn't reach Montano-like levels, but it was back in 2007 when the Viking released "Global". That album was not his debut ("The Chronicles" was, and I actually own it on CD) (biggup Me!) (WHAT!), but it was the very first of what is now three to date to come via VP (the most recent of which, "Turn Up", would come six months after "Break The World"). At that point, the label had apparently (correctly) decided that enough of its more Reggae & Dancehall charged audience had become familiar with the flaming wordsmith from Trinidad. Lyons, herself, has also been a staple on VP Records' releases, Soca Gold primarily, with the aforementioned conquering 'Display' appearing on the 2003 edition of the series. So, although it may have (IT DID) take longer than we wanted it to, Fay-Ann's would officially break the world in 2017. There was also "Raze", a four track EP from VP which solidified the artist/label relationship back in 2015 (making for an agonizingly long two year wait for the full album's release) (biggup Spice).
I imagine that constructed a project would be quite difficult. Lyons surely has even casual fans who were capable of putting together a 'greatest hits' compilation for her in 2017. They would ultimately settle on the route of filling the album's ranks with more contemporary material. Personally, as a nerd, I would have put more of that classic material in but she has flames from every year and, besides, the fuck do I know about making albums??? I just write about them. And today we're looking the 2017 debut from Aza-Sefu, The Silver Surfer, The ViQueen, The HyBrd, Fay-Ann Lyons, "Break The World", which got up and going with one its real highlights, 'Hold On Something'.
"Run"
The Stadic and Wetty Beatz produced opener was chaos at its absolute finest as Fay-Ann dazzles straight from the studio to the road. The song borders on exhaustive, despite being just shy of three minutes long, but if it does wear your ass out, you will not complain. From a direct point of view, Lyons has this kind of raspy delivery, which shines here somewhere between faster vocals and nearly singing at times. 'Hold On Something' is one of her best songs of the past decade in my opinion. Stadic also helmed 'More Than Dem' as their mighty Marli Wood Riddim backs a still scalding Lyons. It probably doesn't matter very much, but it is interesting that, especially considering what follows, that these two similarly paced selections head "Break The World" and they do so not just in style, but quality as well. Now you take 'More Than Them' and 'Hold On Something' and contrast them with 'Girls', and it almost appears as if Fay-Ann and VP decided to give us all a small break. If your feet are tired from jumping and your hands have waved just too much in the opening five and a half minutes of "Break The World", then 'Girls' is your gift as a slower paced tune. It's not a problem for her either. 'Girls' actually grew on me a great deal. I never disliked it, but it does have some type of quality to it (especially when the chorus really opens up) which gives a very nice GLOW to the vibes. I'm more of a power-ish fan when it comes to Lyons' music but, as she has shown many times, she is no one trick pony. The album's first of a trio of combinations, 'Buff', is next. Most fittingly featuring veteran Buffy alongside Lyons (no matter what she does, every time I see her Buffy's name, I immediately start singing 'Anything' in my head ["A man wit a Heineken, he wine on a mannequin"] and it turns the intensity back up from 'Girls', but this time in a different way. Buffy has always been someone who has incorporated more than a little Dancehall in her music and, the combination with Fay-Ann is interesting because something like that isn't outside of Lyons' bag either. So what you end up with is this entirely colourful and infectious track, underpinned by another Stadic and Wetty production, the Egyptolic Riddim.
'High Heels' was a most interesting single selection for "Break The World". Accompanied by Jus Now's Get On Riddim, the song is basically a Dancehall song (which may explain why they chose it) and, while certainly not a favourite of mine on this album, it isn't actually bad. I would have been really curious in the results had VP dialed up some classic Dancehall riddim and given Lyons a spin on it. I think it would have been amazing, but 'High Heels' wasn't bad either. 'Everybody Joli' is the second combination, this one featuring Garlin, who I may have mentioned once or twice already, as well as Joli Rouge Sound from out of Martinique. On the surface, 'Everybody Joli' is a pretty straight forward BIG sounding kind of medium paced Soca song. It does build in intensity, wonderfully, in spots and it just has a very nice vibes to it. However, what stands out to me is that it is very cleverly written at times and, in the midst of the jumping and waving you have the occasional burst of brilliance.
"When you si mi, si wi cause everybody, everybody joli, JOLI!
When wi party, wi party, like nobody
Everybody joli, JOLI!
WATCH YOUR BODY MOVING LIKE IF IT WAS A SYNERGY
AND DI SWEAT UPON YUH FACE EVIDENCE OF ENERGY
IF WI GO ANY HARDER
AND WI GET ON ANY BADDER
THEN THEY MIGHT CALL THE POLICEMAN FI WI TO STOP!"
You don't pay attention to it on such tunes and she probably knows it when she writes them, but Fay-Ann has done very clever things like this throughout her career (she has a tune called 'The Letter F' which is lyrical genius from beginning to end). The suddenly inescapable Stonebwoy (also appearing on Etana's "Pamoja" and Cali P's "Vizion" which we also recently reviewed) joined on the final link from "Break The World", the infectious and KNOCKING 'Block The Road'. This tune was a bit more 'fashionable' than I thought it would be from the title (a few dozen Soca songs you see with the word 'road' in the title and none of them sound like this one) (biggup Bunji, had an EXCELLENT one called 'Clear Di Road') and I might even call it more of a Dancehall tune than Soca. The song got a very nice push and was another official single from the album (which means you should find a video in here somewhere) (biggup Bredz!) and, again, when you take even an easy listen to it, you don't have to wonder too hard why that was. Speaking of getting a big push, there was also 'Raze', the title track from the pre-album EP which I told you about. This one was just DIFFERENT! It featured Lyons showing off those beautiful and versatile raspy vocals to supreme effect and it also kind of crossed some genre bridges as well. Lyrically, 'Raze' was Soca. It talked about things in a way which is inherent to the genre but the way it was displayed was (probably smaller) part Soca and Electronic and maybe even some other stuff I don't know the name of. Whatever you wanted to call it, for what it was, when I look back on Lyons' entire career right now, it's a standout and for more reasons than just being one of the most high profile songs she's done to date.
"Wake up everyone who's sleeping
Meet me on the road"
If it is possible to have a similar sound to 'Raze' -- and I don't know that it is -- then perhaps 'Catch Me' accomplished that. This one is even less Soca and drifts further into Electric waters and that isn't a bad thing in this case. You listen to 'Catch Me', SOMETHING about it will grab you. You will find yourself nodding your head or tapping something, I guarantee you. And I will also pull in the title track here which also has a very unique sound to it. This one doesn't rank amongst my favourites on the album named after it (although I know why they chose it as the title, because it is a fantastic title) but, like 'Everybody Joli', 'Break The World' actually does excel lyrically and if you follow it out a little more (like I always do) (can't help it), it has a theme of inspiring people to do things and spark a change in the world. That being said, however, the middle portion of this album does serve up my absolute favourite from its tracklist, the truly MADDENING 'Air Supply'. This one was two (or three) tunes in one. There is a wonderful moment about a minute and a quarter into it when 'Air Supply' kind of SPLITS IN HALF for the first time and becomes this super intense and completely STUNNING.... something else. It's almost overwhelming. And while it doesn't have that kind of stereotypical Soca sound which I do love so much (the rest of the album takes care of that), its attractive intensity is of an incredibly rare breed even within an artform which mastered that type of energy on the day that it was born.
The final lot of songs on "Break The World" were songs from a couple of years or so prior to the its release. They were all produced by either Stadic or Stadic along with Wetty Beatz and what they all shared besides producer and artist were that they were Soca. They're BEAUTIFUL pieces and modern Soca music and, for me at least, they all rate amongst the very best material on this release. My favourite here was probably 'Done The Party'. The tune may've been the biggest hit on the Oil Stain Riddim which was excellent (Skinny Fabulous' 'The General', which would net him the 2013 St. Vincy Soca Monarch crown and the truly RIDICULOUS 'Wrenk', by Lavaman also featured on the riddim ["MY BEHAVIOUR STINKS!"]) and is amongst Lyons' very best work of the past decade in my opinion.
"Lehwi end the party right now, before somebody gets hurt
Before some get mad and want to take off their shirt
Lehwi stop di party right now, before this really get dread
See that crew over there look like they want to wine on their head
Lehwi done di party right now, tings could really get tense
See the crowd getting antsy and they start to tear up di fence
Lehwi stop di party right now-
Cause a man running through the crowd-
And it looking like he fi shouting like, he fi saying like he waan-
MASH UP SOMETHING!"
"Lehwi end di party right now
Put everything on a cease
Cause the artist up there right now, have di people swarming like bees
Lehwi done di party right now
This could get outta hand
Cause the dem woman start to act crazy and waan wine on somebody man
Lehwi done di party right now and try to pick up di peace
Cause somebody might get all frightened and go and call di police
Lehwi done di party right now-
Cause I see a man in di crowd and he running through and he pushing through and he looking like he waan -
MASH UP SOMETHING!"
Vintage Fay-Ann Lyons, 'Mash Up Something' did something wonderful in showing off her personality and sense of humour which you will see in abundance when you see her live, but is difficult to capture on a record. She has this way of kind of criticizing or regulating intensity, sarcastically of course (CLASSIC example is 'True Lies') and 'Done The Party' is a mighty illustration of it. She's essentially saying that while she's performing, it is getting too crazy and out of hand, that before someone gets injured or worse, we need to stop this shit and go home. You can go. I'm staying. The frenetic Wreck It Riddim (biggup Ralph) (first movie... not the second one) carried 'Doh Hold Meh', another significant piece in its day (best song on that riddim was Skinny's 'Mental Home') (MADNESS!). This one is Fay-Ann making a declaration that she will not be held back or down by anyone or anything. It's another very clever one but in a subtle way (I'm probably the only person ever who has used the word 'subtle' in describing 'Doh Hold Meh'). LISTEN TO IT! Don't listen to it as something which is going to change your way of thinking (unless you were attempting to hold her back), but listen to its details. It's a gem of a song. The Bitter Riddim is one of the heaviest Soca compositions that you'll find from any era and Fay-Ann puts it through its proverbial paces with her 'Drift' (Bunji also grinded it with brilliant bare 'Do It' ["When I do it. I do it mad."]. This song didn't break any new ground and it didn't 'take it to another level' (whatever that means and stuff), but it was thunderous for what it was and, really, just a fine display (all-around) of what Lyons is capable of. All these years later, 'Drift' was probably considerably underrated (and I'm pretty sure that I hear Tallpree in there somewhere). Anytime I hear the riddim for 'H.I.T.A. [Hands In The Air]' it just makes me SMILE. Why? Two reasons. The first was the fact that Fay-Ann Lyons made this song you may've heard of, it's called.... 'H.I.T.A. [Hands In The Air]' (I think it was on her last album, actually). It was DIVINE! Somewhere in that sweet, SWEET pandemonium exists a stunner of a track. It might just be the nicest listen on the whole of "Break The World" and is just one might display of melodic control: You could be REALLY hearing-impaired and still find a vibe in 'HITA'. The other reason it makes me smile, briefly, is because the same riddim backed 'Done' by Icon which is one of the greatest Soca songs I've ever heard. And finally, was the wicked tempters anthem, 'Keep Some' from Stadic's ViBeat Riddim. Probably one of her bigger hits from its time, 'Keep Some', again, found Lyons in a sterling form and really represents a period where history might look back and realize that she enjoyed a wholly SHATTERING streak of output and because of it, we all did.
Those last few songs, although a bit older and less attention-grabbing on paper, perhaps, really helped to 'flesh out' this project. Not just in terms of making it bigger, but adding some significant structure and QUALITY. The remedy for the question of how you build a debut set for such an already established name, at least in the eyes of VP and Fay-Ann, herself, was to go back and maybe not find 'greatest hits' types (like 'Display', 'Meet Superblue', 'Get On' and such), but to add proven more recent work and while I would've loved some of those older ones to be on board, by its end, I think they made the right decision.
Overall, although already four years old now and with some of its material nearing a decade old, the thought that is in my mind foremost about "Break The World" at the moment is regarding just how FRESH it sounds. There is nothing dated here and, though I have heard some of these songs dozens of times over the years (if not more in a few instances), there's nothing stale on this set. On top of that, maybe it's Fay-Ann's style and her attributes help to 'preserve' her music, but even if that is the case, you still have songs on the album which seem very current and if you listen to her music now, you'll find grand similarities (big tune now called 'Something Special') to what she was doing. That stretch of quality that spurred the idea to have "Break The World" kind of never ended. I don't know when, exactly, it began, but it never stopped. So, if you are HISTORY; if it's thirty years from now and you've stumbled upon this review in doing research on Fay-Ann Lyons I'll tell you something: When it comes to Soca, she had virtually no equal in her era. She was one of a kind and, while you're reading this, she still is. Probably the best Soca album VP has ever done.
Rated: 4.45/5
VP Records
CD + Digital
2017
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